The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 255 Shen Le: Sorry, it’s not my fault that I’m so rich
"Get the hot water bottle! Pour it down!"

"Pour!"

"Don't shake your hands!"

"Keep pouring!"

"What are you afraid of? Tell me how much this painting costs! How much is it!!!"

Shen Le stood respectfully in front of the workbench, breathing in, exhaling, inhaling, exhaling.

A brush in my left hand, an electric kettle in my right hand - it had just boiled, and I took it off the heating block, it was steaming, trembling, trembling...

On the left side of the workbench, Mr. Zhang, who taught calligraphy and painting restoration in the academy, was roaring in frustration, and was just about to hit Shen Le on the arm with a stick.

Shen Le's hands shook when he was yelled at, and a large amount of hot water splashed out, almost splashing onto his left hand holding the brush. His left hand quickly retreated, and the boiling hot water poured directly onto the painting...

"Look carefully when pouring! Don't withdraw your left hand! Old silk paintings are very fragile. If the boiling water is poured directly onto the silk painting without a brush to block it, the impact will damage the center of the painting!"

Shen Le trembled with fear. He poured half a pot of boiling water under the teacher's roar. Then he paused for a moment and pressed a towel on the center of the painting to absorb the water stains.

While inhaling, thinking:
Yes, at least my hands don't shake now. The practice drawings I am using to repair are the practice drawings of primary school students in the Chinese painting class, collected from waste paper.

Not to mention a few dollars per piece, it was basically one dollar per kilogram. The teacher grabbed a handful of dust and rubbed it on, then dropped a few drops of oil on it, let it sit for a while, and then gave it to him to practice.

For a painting like this, what would it matter if one hundred or one thousand were ruined, let alone one?
He can afford it!
If you damage a thousand sheets of paper in one day, at most the toilet will be clogged!
Once the thought of letting go comes to mind, the world will be wide open from now on. Shen Le pressed the thin towel in his hand to the center of the painting, soaked up the water, and then rolled up the towel.

As he rolled and rolled, he pushed the remaining water off the painting. Teacher Zhang stood beside him, giving orders non-stop:
"Press your hand down! Press it down! Don't be afraid of the heat! The water has already spread out on the table. The heat will disperse a little, but it won't burn your skin!"

"Don't use too much force! That's an ancient painting! A fragile ancient painting! Not the T-shirt you're wearing today!"

"Press down vertically! Don't use too much force! Don't rub! Not only ancient paintings, but fabrics can't stand rubbing like this!!!"

Under the teacher's yelling, Shen Le kept improving his movements.

After pouring water on a painting, the painting paper was torn, but it was much less severe than what he had imagined, that it would be crumpled into a ball of rotten paper, or even into a ball of toilet paper:

"Huh? Really not broken?"

"What do you think? The flexibility of rice paper is much stronger than you think!" Teacher Zhang sighed:
"Water! Keep watering! This place isn't clean yet!"

The second time he poured hot water, Shen Le's hands were much steadier and his heart stopped pounding. Teacher Zhang sighed:
"Ah, you have great conditions to learn this now. When we first started, there weren't so many paintings for you to paint and mess around with!"

Shen Le could only smile at him in a flattering way. Alas, teacher, what can I say? After all, I don’t want to be so rich, right?
"Teacher Zhang, thank you for your help. When I have finished the restoration work, you can take all the remaining paintings from my practice back home and give them to my juniors! You can use them as you like!"

Faced with such a diligent student, the teacher couldn't lose his temper - what's more, Shen Le was not only a student, but also a sponsor, a big sponsor.

When he came to give guidance this time, Shen Le not only provided the laboratory for the department to use, but also gave him a big red envelope in private.

Not to mention, even if he didn't charge an agency fee, he would still have various benefits, both obvious and hidden, by assisting Shen Le in the restoration work, finding someone to help calculate the Raman spectrum, finding someone to help calculate the restoration image, etc...

Therefore, Teacher Zhang showed more patience than when guiding his own students. While guiding Shen Le to work, he also answered questions:
"Teacher, I read in a book that some ancient paintings cannot be scalded with boiling water..."

"Well, landscape figures painted with heavy powder and green colors cannot be scalded with boiling water to avoid hurting your nerves. But you haven't learned this yet, so take your time and practice the basic feel first."

Well, this is an advanced course, and he hasn't learned it yet. When he has poured 70, 80, or even 100 sheets of drawing paper, the teacher will probably show him the result after boiling water.

"Teacher, can I peel it off dry without washing it with water?"

"Some ancient paintings can be peeled off dry... However, the painting core and the paper are glued together with glue. Even if you can peel them off dry, you still have to remove the glue. So, generally speaking, we still use water."

Ah, this... Shen Le was confused. Normal people would have to soak the painting in water before peeling it off, so that they could safely peel off the life paper - that is, the backing paper behind the painting. The wet painting would remain flexible and not easily damaged.

But he has mental strength!
He can focus his mental power to a very fine and thin level and remove the paste bit by bit!

In this way, maybe it is possible to separate the painting core and the destiny paper directly without spraying water?
Decision made, I’ll try it out when I get back!
"Teacher, when I repair other objects, I use ethylene oxide fumigation to remove mold. Why do we need to wash with water to remove mold from ancient paintings?"

"In fact, ancient paintings can also be fumigated with ethylene oxide. But don't you want to restore them? Don't you have to use boiling water to pour on other stains anyway?
Now that it has been poured, there is no need to bother with ethylene oxide. This is the principle of minimum intervention..."

Ah, ah, I didn't think of that. Is this what they call "washing it all"?

"Teacher, the paper is so soft after being watered, how can I move it without damaging it?" "Practice! Practice hard! Practice to death! If you peel off a hundred pieces of paper, anyone who is not a fool will definitely be able to do it!"

Generally speaking, as long as you are not a clumsy person, you can be bold, careful, and steady. Are there any clumsy students majoring in cultural relics restoration?
Maybe there are some for the newly admitted undergraduates, but there are really none for master’s students.

Those who apply for a master's degree in this major are more or less confident in their skills. If you are really clumsy and this job is too painful, you should change your career as soon as possible!

Even if you are determined to apply, the teachers of this school have noticed the students' usual performance. If you are really clumsy, you will not be passed!
Therefore, Mr. Zhang is very confident in what he said. Painting and calligraphy restoration requires strong artistic skills, such as repainting the incomplete parts and connecting the brushstrokes. This cannot be achieved by hard study and practice alone.

However, washing and mounting are manual work.

Work more, practice more, and be exposed to ancient paintings of different materials, years, craftsmanship, and damage. With more practice, you will naturally get a feel for it...

So when Teacher Zhang trained Shen Le, he did not hold back at all. He practiced for two hours in the morning, two hours in the afternoon, and one hour in the evening.
What? Only five hours a day? And time to rest?

During the break time, he showed me ancient paintings, all kinds of ancient paintings, and I studied them hard.

Not only look at it, but also copy it. After copying, you have to mount the painting yourself. After mounting, let it dry and set, then remove the top and bottom, the axis, the lining strips on the four sides, make it dirty, and rinse it again...

The teacher was so strict that Shen Le had no choice but to practice hard. Boil water, pour water, and dry with a towel; boil water again, pour water again, and dry with a towel again.

After practicing ten elementary school student drawings, I basically found the feeling of washing hands with ordinary rice paper, and then practiced with mounted rice paper;
The mounted rice paper can be washed clean smoothly, and I can also practice turning the painting over:
Cover the center of the painting with paper that is larger than the center of the painting and more flexible. After the synthetic paper is fully absorbed, add another layer of rice paper or absorbent paper on top as a reinforcement layer.

After sealing, one person took each side, grabbed the four corners of the painting, and turned it over...

"Grip these two corners—relax! Relax! Don't squeeze them too hard! Don't break them! Don't deform them!"

"Pinch it tighter! Hold it tighter! If you hang it loosely like this, it will slide out if you move it a little when you turn the painting, and it will break if it slides out!"

“Relax! Relax!”

Shen Le: T_T
Do you want me to hold it tight or relax?

"Pinch it loosely, but be able to exert force, and don't pinch it out of shape. Don't you understand this? If you don't understand, practice! Practice more!"

Teacher Zhang trained him for ten days, then left and went back to school to attend a meeting. As soon as he left, the Alloy Master appeared out of nowhere:
"Oh - I'm so scared. How can you be such a teacher? You scold me every day. I'm terrified just by hearing it!"

"There's nothing we can do. Painting and calligraphy restoration is just so difficult." Shen Le could only smile bitterly at him:
"I basically don't understand anything, and the teacher has to teach me from scratch. The teaching pressure must be very high."

The Alloy Boss walked around the studio once, and again.

He looked at the full trash can of waste paper, and sniffed the room, where the vacuum pump could not get rid of the ink, paint, and all sorts of strange smells that filled the air:
"Maybe... I shouldn't ask you to fix this thing? Is it too difficult for you?"

"No, no, no! Don't worry, I will definitely help you fix it!"

Shen Le quickly raised his head to dissuade him. It was a rare opportunity to be able to touch a field that he had never touched before, and to have the guidance of senior teachers in the school.

Moreover, he had lent out his laboratory, so how could he not make good use of the guidance he got in return?

When the tiger is away, the monkey is king. When the teacher is away, Shen Le starts to do whatever he wants, trying out the uses of his spiritual power and mental power:

Use your mental power to penetrate deep into the space between the painting and the paper, move little by little, and "cut" or "pick" away the paste in between;
"Failed! There's a hole in the drawing paper! Is it true that problems are likely to occur when operating without visual supervision?"

Use your spiritual power to go deep into the heart of the painting, and remove the dust and mold on it bit by bit;

"It can't be called a failure... but the efficiency is too low... so I still have to water it, right?"

Use your spiritual power to go deep into the center of the painting and "press" the paint on it, so that when you pour boiling water on it, the paint will not be damaged or run away...

"It failed... Pouring boiling water on it did not wash away the paint, but it also did not wash away the stains..."

　By the way, using boiling water to clean ancient paintings is really a counterintuitive method...

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(End of this chapter)